Have you had enough of preparing enormous amounts of food for entertaining? We all know how drained a party celebration can leave anyone, especially those hosting it or in charge of the kitchen. It’s one thing to love preparing homemade meals for your family, without having to impress anyone with flamboyant decorations and exotic tastes; but cooking for a large number of people, and making sure everything is ready before they arrive, is a very different story.

Since December is big on social events for most people, and certainly for Latinos who give much greater importance to Christmas than to Thanksgiving, I decided to help out a bit with a cool and delicious idea. If you’re running out of creativity for finger food or appetizers made for home entertaining and parties, and want to do something fun and out of the ordinary this year, how about trying some Japanese creations? Your guests will probably appreciate the surprise, and the fact that at least one of the courses on the menu is low on fat and very healthy in general.

To make these easy sushi squares you can use only rice and salmon if you prefer, or add as many fresh vegetables as you like, turning something simple into a rainbow of colors and textures. For example, I used radishes and avocados along with the rice and salmon in the original preparation. But for the leftovers, I quickly fried the salmon, put it back in its place, and then covered it with extra layers of thinly-sliced carrots, and mixed greens. It was a completely different experience, but equally enjoyable, and certainly a better option for those who shy away from eating raw fish.

As any itamae in the world would tell you, the key for good sushi lies in the freshness of the ingredients, and in the proper preparation of the rice. The correct method goes like this: You need to get the special glutinous sushi rice, wash 2 cups of it 3 times in plenty of water (this is to get rid of any excess starch), and then cook it in 3 cups of water, without salt, for 17 minutes. When ready, turn the heat off, let cool a little, and season with the special rice vinegar preparation. This vinegar preparation can be made while the rice is cooking, by bringing 1/2 a cup of Nakano All-Natural Rice Vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil, and then letting this cool to room temperature. Once the rice and vinegar are mixed together (a wooden spoon is best for this job), you must put it in a large dish or container where you can spread out the rice in a very thin layer. With the help of a fan (or magazine), air it until it’s cool. Yes, this may sounds like too much work, but that’s because we’re used to cooking without putting much effort into anything. Let’s face it folks: traditional methods sometimes work better than machines.

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These sushi squares are delicious. My daughter made them, but as soon as she finished with the photos we ate almost the entire batch! They were so good! And when you have the seasoned rice ready, assembling the dish is very easy.

Hi Morena! I am so happy you are promoting Peruvian food. It’s one of my favorite cuisines and luckily, one that I have access to here in Miami. Just curious … how long does it take to prepare the mis-en-place? And how many squares come out of these particular quantities?

I love this recipe because it doesn’t have to be rolled-up sushi. I bet one could stick a piece of seaweed in there, too.

Hi Maria de los Angeles! The mis-en-place (including the rice and everything) should take around 40 minutes. You can also buy the rice ready if you want to save time. You will get around 2 dozen squares, depending on the size you cut them. Glad you liked the recipe! And yes, you can stick whatever you want in them. As I mention in the post, I changed the leftover squares by cooking the fish, and adding other veggies. So good!

Great blog! Sorry to change the subject, but, since Nashville is getting a lot of press lately, I’d like to find a great sushi restaurant or Japanese restaurant in Nashville TN. Have you heard of any good ones? There’s a new one called Nomzilla Sushi Et Cetera, but I’ve only seen a few reviews. Here’s the address of this new Nashville Sushi Restaurant , 1201 Villa Place, Suite 101 Nashville, TN 37212 – (615) 268-1424. Let me know your thoughts! Thanks!

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Morena Escardo is half the team of Peru Delights. She studied Philosophy in England, and Literature in Spain, worked as a magazine and book editor, and had a catering business for 3 years in Lima. Together with her mother, a professional chef and cookbook writer, they decided to share the food of their country with the world, because they believed people were missing out on this wonderful, extremely varied cooking heritage. Peruvian food is considered to be the next big thing in the culinary world.